Current and former Legon Vice Chancellors ‘fight’ over contracts

The current Vice-Chancellor of Ghana’s premier university, University of Ghana, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu has accused his processor, Professor Ernest Aryeetey of signing dubious contracts for the university with Africa Integras which has enslaved the school financially.

A contract signed by Prof Ernest Aryeetey, through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Africa Integras of US$64 million in the construction of 1,000 new students’ hostel beds for undergraduate and post-graduate students on the Legon campus has been dubbed dubious by the current Vice Chancellor.

The said project was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract. Reports have emerged that the University, then under Prof. Aryeetey signed the agreement without any basic due diligence and this has been substantiated by the current Vice Chancellor. “The agreement was signed in September 2015, construction started in February 2016 way before I took over as VC… so it’s obvious and it has been obvious before I took over that that condition was impossible to meet. As to why we signed, this is the question that has led us to where we are today”, Prof Oduro, current VC told staff of the University.

On his part, the Former Vice-Chancellor alleges that there is a grand scheme by some individuals to wipe out his legacy by putting out falsehood to tarnish his hard earn reputation. “There is a lot of effort being made to rewrite my legacy. There is a lot of effort going on in Ghana to say Ernest Aryeetey is not as great as you guys thought he was. A lot of effort is going into it, both at the University, the Ministry of Health and other places.” Asked who he thinks is behind the attempts to dent his image, Prof Aryeetey said: “That is what is going on, the story you told earlier [about allegation about signing a $64 million agreement Africa Integras came from the University, didn’t it? So yes, there is a lot of rewriting being done. But my response is, history has already been written.”

He has also been accused by the current Deputy Health Minister, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu, of colluding with two other individuals to register the UG Medical Center in his name.

It seems there is a bad blood between the old and the new administration of the University of Ghana with each of the camps running to the media to state their case. The involvement of government officials from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education has infuriated the issue.

ADVERTISEMENT

ABOUT US

KampusToday is your campus news website. We provide you with the latest breaking news and videos from all campuses in Ghana and beyond, including General & International news, Articles, Politics, Lifestyle, Sports and Entertainment.